An exceptional glimpse of life inside one of the world’s most isolated regimes – North Korea – has been provided thanks to the disaster relief charity ShelterBox.
Now sponsored by Rotary clubs from six different countries, ShelterBox specialises in providing emergency accommodation and other survival essentials to disaster victims. Aid is delivered in pre-packaged kits – ‘ShelterBoxes’ – each designed to help a family of 10 survive for at least six months.
The charity has just delivered 200 boxes containing tents and other equipment to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), after being asked by the country’s government to help families left homeless by recent floods.
ShelterBox photographer Mark Pearson travelled with some of the boxes to Jigokri, a small village in the province of Kangwon – no more than 25 miles from the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that divides the North and South Korea. The area is extremely sensitive and very few visitors to North Korea are allowed beyond the capital Pyongyang, let alone within such a short distance of the DMZ.
Mark Pearson said: "We delivered the first 35 boxes to Jigokri. They’d had over 700mm of rainfall in less than 24 hours and a dam overflowed, washing away around 75 houses. Getting the boxes there was a challenge as there were very few trucks available and fuel is very hard to come by."
Travelling down a coast bristling with anti-aircraft guns and other defences built to protect North Korea from the threat of invasion also provided an opportunity to see how torrential rain had washed away buildings and huge areas of rice paddies. It is estimated that around a third of this year’s harvest has been lost – a disaster in a country that already relies on international aid to feed its population.
In Jigokri, work was already underway to rebuild houses lost in the floods but a number of families were still without a home. Pearson said: "The floods had also washed away the village’s clinic and primary school. Within minutes of the tents going up, the local doctor set up in one and started doing acupuncture on a man who had a stomach problem. Another tent was turned into a classroom for the village children.
"But the villagers were also amazed by the tools in the boxes. They had very few tools and everything was very old. For them, being given a new hammer and axe etc was completely unbelievable and will really help them with rebuilding their houses. They’ll need them too. Jigokri is up in the mountains. It was cold when we were there and it’ll be well below zero there in a month or so."
He added: "It was a strange experience visiting North Korea. I had to surrender my mobile phone at the border and had two party members accompanying me every minute of the day but I got to see a side of North Korea that very few people will ever see."
The invitation to assist in North Korea came via First Steps, a Canadian charity that has been operating for several years in the country and was aware of the work of ShelterBox.
ShelterBox founder and chief executive Tom Henderson said:"First Steps has been working in North Korea for several years to combat malnutrition in young children. The charity was founded by Susan Ritchie, a former translator for the Canadian government and has built up a good working relationship with the North Korean authorities there.
"I met Susan at this summer’s Rotary International annual conference in Salt Lake City. She instantly realised how useful our ShelterBoxes could be and told the North Korean authorities about us."
ShelterBox was set up by a Cornish Rotary club in 2000 and now has international affiliates established by Rotary clubs in six other countries. In August, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall became the charity’s president.
Henderson added: "North Korea is the 40th country to receive aid from ShelterBox and we reckon we’ve now provided help for more than 500,000 disaster victims worldwide. We operate irrespective of race, religion or political affiliation and that independence – as well as our links with the worldwide Rotary organisation – is one of the reasons we are able to operate in so many places.
"Our concern is the needs of people who have lost their homes as the result of a disaster – politics doesn’t matter when your house has been washed away – and we hope to be able to help further in North Korea in the future."
As well as working in North Korea, teams from ShelterBox are currently delivering aid in Peru, Somaliland and Uganda. For more information about the charity’s work call 01326 569782 or visit www.shelterbox.org.
26/10/07
